CTIA Showstoppers: NeoMedia is a start-up
What ever happened in the past and whatever reputation NeoMedia had – today the company is a start-up. When I first met Neom one year ago – the structure the focus and the direction was very different. Chas the former CEO is no longer there and nor is anyone else from that era.
What is clear is that the company is reborn and Neomedia is not a huge technology giant that snaps up companies left right and centre. It is a start-up in a new market.
I overheard a conversation at Showstoppers last night and the same questions were thrown at NeoMedia that even I asked about eight months ago. I felt like shouting at the guy and saying move on! I didn’t and nor did the Neom people at the show. They were focused and calm and said, we are a start-up in mobile barcodes vying to get a lead in the market.
Then I cornered VP of NeoMedia Terry Griffin. She didn’t make it to the blender last night and I wanted an update. What I got was a cool iPhone demo. It was brief, what we had come to expect but also funky. The visibility for mobile barcodes and coupons at ShowStoppers was great. The interest from the press huge – but something is missing.
I feel that everyone is standing still in the barcode space. Demos can show how users take pictures of codes and then view WAP sites or direct content. But this is only one step of the future for mobile barcode solutions.
NFC is an alternate area but marketing campaigns, barcode search, visual barcode search engines and marketing based around barcode results or competition style memory games to guess the barcode could all add creativity to the road show.
The fly in the mobile barcode ointment is creativity and vision. Education is still necessary. Users need to understand how the barcode is taken via a picture (vs scanning on a phone). But this must be done with more creativity appeal and the edge/WOW factor.
Operators and mobile marketing companies need to embrace barcodes within the marketing machine.
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6 Responses to “CTIA Showstoppers: NeoMedia is a start-up”
NeoReader operating on the iPhone.
How cool is that
Comment made on April 1st, 2008 at 10:30 amHey Bena,
Will you have a chance to attend this event
Cameraphone Code Scanning Technologies: A Survey
Time: Apr. 01, 2008 from 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Location: Las Vegas Convention Center − Room: North 107
It will be an interesting one with CHIP Hoffman as well as Jonathan Bulkeley on the same podium..
If you will attend, can you please post a short summary of the event.
THANKS IN ADVANCE
Ben
Comment made on April 1st, 2008 at 12:44 pmHey all,
Be aware that ****** is just a poser for Neomedia.
Everything on the ***** is from them, and this handles trolls blogs consistently for anything related to them.
Take anything they say with, oh, about a shaker of salt.
Comment made on April 2nd, 2008 at 5:12 amHi Bena,
The past does not just go away, especially when millions of dollars were borrowed to purchase the companies you reference. Then on top of that many more millions was lost reselling the companies bact to their original owners.
I say this because today something was brought up which I missed in Neoms financials released just recently. Neoms only funding source YA has called in the debt on the preferred stock which has a face value of 25 million. They called the debt in plus the accrued interest in February 2008, and on April 1 Neom defaulted once again by failing to make the required set payments due for accrued interest.
I beg to differ on the start up analogy, since this company has launched its product 3 times now over 5 years with no success to date. Financially wise they may look like a start up company, but experience wise, they should of been well advanced at this time, yet they have no campaigns ongoing except a printed text book that is all about paperclick.
By the way, one of the key board members who was behind the debacles is still there, and according to some accounts is pulling most the strings, so all the old is not gone at this time.
Comment made on April 7th, 2008 at 1:12 pmOK. Thank-you for your comments I am on the phone to YA - I will meet them next week in London.
Comment made on April 8th, 2008 at 6:24 amI hear you -but I do want all companies in this space to win and succeed. Bena
Bena:
Comment made on April 23rd, 2008 at 2:04 pmOn April 8, you wrote that you were on the phone to YA. What have you found out?
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